Saotome-ryu Kenjutsu
“The saotome style is very deadly, even as much as our own tendo ryuu. To match blades with the son of saotome the whirlwind could risk the fate of both our houses, and it could spell the ruin of house tendo.” The Saotome-ryu Kenjutsu renowned for its capabilities of quickly adapting and overcoming others' particular sword fighting styles, inherently believing in not binding oneself to just a single aspect of wielding a blade. The art requires a combination of balance, coordination, speed, reflexes, strength, endurance and stamina to be employed as efficiently as possible. The style is designed to cover every aspect of a battle situation attacking weak points on the opponent's body, exploiting certain battle styles and utterly destroying your adversary's body. Overview Practitioners always portray an astonishing agility, weaving various acrobatic acts and stunts through their fighting rhythms. They are able to successfully outmaneuver opponents, always managing to position themselves in an advantageous situation and precisely taking the foe down. Combined with its extraordinary speed, practitioners can perform various acrobatic spins, and tricks in mid-air, misguiding nearly any opponent and leaving them unable to counter. Practitioners can keep an unflinching position even when bombarded with a flurry of attacks, as well as keep their position while attacking an opponent from seemingly impossible angles. The Saotome-ryu coordination allows practitioners to cast multiple assaults simultaneously executing seemingly impossible sword strikes, in such rapid combinations that even the most well-trained of enemies find themselves overwhelmed. The art flows together graceful strikes and body movements to make a dance-like form that focuses on covering all possible openings they may have, making this particular style an effective defense against attacks, even when outnumbered. Blocks and dodges are alternated, although the former is more common due the option of an immediate counter-attack while the latter always demands perfect execution: whenever an attack is avoided, it must be done with the most minute of movements, so much that the attack always misses by a hair's margin. This is both to save energy and be well within the reach for a counter. Yuan's lightning-fast reaction speed, immense intellect and almost unbelievable swiftness form a deadly combo for nearly any opponent that dares to cross his path. He was capable of blocking an assault consisting of thousand of blade strikes without too much. Its feigns and counters (usually Iaido) are so fast and spontaneous, practitioners can create several openings in a foe in just one movement. An ultimate form of both parrying and thrusting in a simultaneous gesture, when settled into the stance, whether stationary or in motion (whether it be on the ground or in the air), it is capable of parrying an enemy's greatest thrust technique with this gesture. Applied effectively, the opponent is set-back one move, while creating an opening elsewhere. They can also be used as a disarming technique, for example, drawing the sword so fast, practitioner can strike target with the hilt, knocking the wind out of them and taking them out of a fight before the fight really begins. The Iaido strikes are so incredibly fast and spontaneous, defending against them could result in maiming or, in more severe cases, broken bones and even death. Philosophy There are no real prescriptions and even serious gaps within the style's teachings and techniques, which the pupil itself has to fill in with improvisation and resources depending on the situation. They are trained to use their subconscious mind to create completely new combat techniques in the middle of battle. The techniques are designed to be simple but effective, so that in the spur of the moment one doesn't have to worry about complex rituals and stances. The art teaches that the enemy comes in many varieties many will be stronger than the practitioner. Some of them won’t be harmed by special techniques. It stresses that it is important to think about what to do then. The answer is not to use your specialty so often. Play with the enemy’s mind get them off balance and strike don’t be fancy you can find opportunity among basic combat principles. This lets opponent think they have a chance, and then they see that they have nothing… this kind of power is terrifying. The opponent crushed by despair. Description The Saotome-ryu incorporates numerous traditional schools of martial arts, known as koryū, with its numerous sub-categories of schools and styles. Practitioners can effectively employ three of the traditional martial arts schools which deal with swordsmanship, Kenjutsu, Kendo, and Iaido, in such a way, that they can use it almost exclusively in combat against their foes and win nearly any fight with them. In addition to this, as with its parent school it is highly knowledgeable of martial arts that do not deal with swordsmanship, both for the pupils own enlightenment and also to allow them to understand the movements and techniques of their foe's own special skills. It utilizes all aspects of hand to hand combat from punches and throws to kicks and palm strikes with flips, rolls, tumbles, cartwheels and other acrobatic maneuvers mixed in. the style is known for being very dynamic and unpredictable, masters of this fighting style dart around their opponents landing blow after blow with immense speed and power. The art is powerful with complex movements which allow practitioner to lunge with their sword from the left and defend with their sheath at the right, though they train to be ambidextrous and can easily switch between the two techniques. The style typically fights with the sword held in a normal grip and the sheath held in reverse grip, showing the mastery of the two variations of sword fighting. It uses misdirection in its attacks, and even though doing so allows for holes in its defense, practitioners are more than capable of making up for it with surprise attacks. There are some attacks, however, referred to as "quick strikes" (迅速殴打, jinsoku ōda). They are done with two hands on the sword, or with sword in each hand. One hand is at the base of the handle to provide longer reach, while the other hand is at the ridge of the blade to provide the initial force to flick the sword as quick as an arrow to hit the target, with tremendous power behind it. The purpose of quick strikes is to throw off a target's determination and test their resolve. A weakening of resolve usually produces several openings from which practitioner can exploit to deliver a killing blow. Its nature is one of absolute resolve. It teaches that emotions are but windows; openings for an opponent to take advantage of. By learning to internalize pure focus, the blade of the Saotome-ryu can never be overcome or blocked in battle. In essence, the sword is only as powerful as he who holds the blade. Quick strikes are so powerful; they can easily slice through large debris, and even the stone. This is most likely due to them being meant for the purpose of directing one's willpower using the sword as a medium and because of practitioners own indomitable spirit, it causes the sword's edge to become sharp enough to slice through any form of opposition. The strength of its slashes are matched only by its speed and precision, making it nearly impossible to block practitioners assaults. This could also be done with a double sword style, with one sword providing the push for the dispatch. The practitioner usually hides these postures from their opponents, and the ready positions are implemented while switching hands or while changing steps. These flicking strikes can be administered from any angle (from the top, sides, or below). The only time practitioner aims for their opponent's sword itself, is when parrying; merely in attempt to knock the foe's blade away to allow them to deliver a more powerful thrust of their own. When parrying, practitioner always directs the point of the sword to the target. This minimizes the step usually needed for them to be able to counter-attack. Thus, the opponent is at an immediate disadvantage. Also, using the quick strike at the opponent’s sword hand or forearm, will immediately incapacitate the opponent's attack before having to parry it. By keeping the point of the sword pointed towards the opponent while attempting to parry in all angles, provide practitioner with a good foundation for an appropriate counter maneuver reflexes. The Saotome-ryu is also fond of using pierces rather than slashes, slightly resembling Fencing. With the immense strength retained from martial arts training imbued within the swordsmanship, practitioners retain incredible thrust power when fighting against skilled opponents. Those who are skilled with analytical, one-shot thrusts after evading or parrying a blow, they make sure that enough strength and power is placed within their thrust, when parried, that it would cause them to stumble or damage their weapon entirely. This in of itself has been seen as a feign as well, as they can switch hands within an instant, and then land a thrust towards the opponent's limb or torso, allowing for blinding assaults in the midst of powerful blows. The Saotome-ryu ability to employ all of these aspects of the art, not only flawlessly, but, instinctively, where practitioners don't even have to think about them, are a testament to its mastery. Practitioner’s reflexes are trained to react to sword movements, however chaotic or unpredictable they may be, to the point that they can fight in total darkness and still effectively parry and return opponent techniques and strikes. They are also capable of taking on several opponents at once with it techniques. Special Techniques Tegatana (手刀 Hand-Sword): By placing his entire palm flat and using the portion of the hand opposite to the thumb, the individual is capable of channeling spiritual energy into the palm and then causing it to be sharpened much like a blade. From here, practitioners have been shown to be capable of literally cutting through their opposition through simple knife-like motions. Tsui Bami (Falling Beak): Just like a diving bird, user thrusts his blade user towards the enemy, impaling them. Habataki (Flapping Wings): A series of front-facing slashes from several different angles. The blade lashes out in a fashion like flapping bird wings.. Kirimomi (Tail Spin): While falling, user rotates his body, slashing downward in a spiral motion. This attack can serve as both defense and offense. Notes This style is either created my Genma Saotome in Continuum-034280961 or Tatewaki Kuno in Continuum-29457180 and depending on the Continuum it is either called The Saotome-ryu Kenjutsu or Martial Arts Kenjutsu. Reference Category:Anything Goes Kenjutsu Ryu